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First of all, this chaos in the Luthic could not continue. Every coastal nation in the world was being affected, which included several that were supposed to be under her protection. If the Crystal Titan couldn’t make time to come settle this matter, then she was the only other person in the world who could.

The only public person, at least.

Secondly, letting Iceheart and the Gargoyle both die here would certainly not make the world a more peaceful place. Of course, chances were good that they would’ve found a way to wriggle their way out this tight spot, just like they usually did, but still. It was a fair reason, nonetheless.

And thirdly, this would give her tremendous negotiating power. Over both of the other factions, that was. Over the Vanguard, of course, since she was doing them an incredible favor by minimizing their losses, if not outright saving their lives. And over Abolish, too, because neither of these wrinkly old maniacs would want her to commit herself fully to supporting the Vanguard against them.

They were going to pretend otherwise, naturally. Keep up appearances, if nothing else.

But she knew them quite well by now. And they, her.

While much of the world still thought of her as the gentle, peace-loving “empress,” these two had seen what happens when someone pissed her off. More than a few times, in fact.

Hells, that was probably why Morgunov was in love with her. The sicko.

Her arrival on the “battlefield”--if it could even be called that--was a suppressive event, as she preferred it. The raging winds, the surging waters, the chained explosions, the spinning blades of jagged ice, even the lightning crackling through the clouds--it all came to an abrupt end, becalmed in an instant as she exerted the full breadth of her soul power over the area.

The combatants, too, were made to give pause. None could be unaware of her presence now. And all would pay heed to her will.

For a time, anyway. This was quite the formidable crowd, gathered here. None of the eyes on her were couched in fear, not even among the faces she didn’t recognize. Among those she did, she spotted Vernon, Kehl, and Jules.

And plenty of uggos, of course.

Not that she held that against them. Despite how much she appreciated a beautiful man, she actually harbored quite a bit of sympathy for the poor sods who’d apparently been cursed by Xixa since birth.

It was still tough to remember their names, though.